Carbon Care Asia co-organised a seminar with the Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS) on 8 January 2020 to share with nearly 200 attendees the updates and insights on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX)’s recent Consultation Conclusions on reviewing the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide (“the ESG Reporting Guide”) and related Listing Rules, which was released on 18 December 2019.

In the seminar, Ms Chloe Mok, CCA Director of Sustainability Strategy, stressed the importance for listed companies to plan for compliance with the latest ESG requirements as all major changes proposed in the consultation have been adopted and the implementation date is scheduled to financial years commencing on or after 1 July 2020.

The sharing was taken further by Dr Lindsay Mai, CCA Senior Sustainability Consultant. She explained in details the latest amendments in the ESG Reporting Guide and explained how companies could use a step-by-step approach to enhance sustainability governance.

CCA Principal Sustainability Consultant Ms Bonnie Yip went on to elaborate how companies could assess the risks and impacts of climate change on their operation. Regarding the updates on environmental and social KPIs in the ESG Reporting Guide, Ms Yip offered a framework model to guide participants to improve their reporting quality. Finally, she explained how stakeholder engagement exercises could be utilised as an effective approach to address the issues above.

At the end of the seminar, the CCA team reminded participants of the fact that support from the company board and its involvement are of utmost importance. Companies should also plan ahead for the new changes as it takes time for the team to collect new data and familiarize with HKEX’s new rules and requirements.

Photo captions:

1. Many HKICS members showed keen interest in learning HKEX’s latest amendments on the ESG Reporting Guide.
2. Ms Chloe Mok, CCA Director of Sustainability Strategy, alerted listed companies of the importance to plan for new ESG compliance.
3. Dr Lindsay Mai, CCA Senior Sustainability Consultant, explained in details the latest amendments in the ESG Reporting Guide.
4. Ms Bonnie Yip, CCA Principal Sustainability Consultant, elaborated on how companies could assess the risks and impacts of climate change.
5. CCA Director of Sustainability Strategy Ms Chloe Mok (1^st left ), Principal Sustainability Consultant Ms Bonnie Yip (2^nd left ) and Senior Sustainability Consultant Dr Lindsay Mai (2^nd right ) received souvenirs from the HKICS representative.